How to Be Jay and Silent Bob for Halloween

The characters Jay and Silent Bob were first introduced in the 1994 Kevin Smith movie "Clerks" and went on to be featured in several other films including "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy" and their own feature film "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." Joined at the hip, the two are as different as night and day. Jay is tall, thin, and blond, while Silent Bob is shorter, rounder, and dark haired. While Jay careens through life as a thoughtless, drug-dealing loudmouth who can't seem to utter a sentence that isn't laced with profanity, Silent Bob is disconcertingly silent; He rarely speaks, but his actions definitely speak louder than words.

Things You'll Need

Long, blond wig

Long, brunette wig

Fake brown beard or dark brown costume makeup crayon

1 black trench coat

1 black parka

1 gray hoodie

1 black T-shirt

1 pair dark-colored pants

1 pair blue jeans

1 gray knit cap

1 tan baseball cap

2 plain white T-shirts

"Got Christ" graphic

1 sheet inkjet, heat press photo transfer paper

Printer with black ink

Iron

Piece of cardboard

A boom box

Video of the Day

Dress Like Silent Bob

Put on the long brunette wig and fake dark beard. If you don't want to wear a fake beard then use a brown costume makeup crayon to color in a beard on your face. If you already have long dark hair and a beard then you are ahead of the game.

Wear the blue jeans, a white T-shirt with a black T-shirt over it, and a long black trench coat. In most images of Silent Bob you can see a tiny bit of his white T-shirt peaking through at the neck, under his black T-shirt. Keep the T-shirts untucked.

Wear the tan baseball cap backward and carry the boom box.

Dress Like Jay

Put on the long blond wig. If you already have long blond hair then you are good to go.

Make a "Got Christ" T-Shirt

Other People Are Reading

Adjust your printer settings to "mirror image," otherwise when you print the words will be backwards when you iron them onto your shirt.

Load the heat transfer paper into your printer according to the instructions and print in black and white.

Insert the piece of cardboard inside your T-shirt and lay it front side up on a hard surface. Iron on a hard surface rather than an ironing board, as you need to apply quite a bit of pressure to make sure the heat transfer image adheres to your shirt.

Lay the iron on, face down on the center of the white T-shirt.

Set your iron on high. Press and lift; do not slide the iron. If you slide the iron you will ruin the image. Start in the center of the graphic and press the iron down, holding in place for 10 seconds while applying steady pressure. Lift the iron, move over slightly and press again. Repeat this process of pressing down with steady pressure and lifting while moving your way around the image to the outside edges.

Allow the iron-on transfer to cool for about a minute. Reduce the iron heat to medium and starting at the top of the image, glide the iron across the paper to the bottom and repeat side to side. Allow to cool again.

Repeat step 7 but this time, after you've finished ironing the back, set your iron aside and peel the paper backing off the iron on transfer while the paper is still warm.

Tips & Warnings

If you really want to commit to the full persona of the characters, follow these guidelines:

Silent Bob is as his name implies -- silent. If he does communicate it is done through exaggerated, almost cartoon-like facial expressions and gestures.

Jay, on the other hand, is very vocal as well as very vulgar. If it's appropriate, swear a lot, and use the following words invented by Kevin Smith such as "Snoochie Boochies" and "Snoogins," the latter taking the place of "just kidding" and the former being a word that doesn't have any specifically defined meaning.

Lastly, there are some extra character traits that you could choose to work into your costume persona. These may give you talking points if you intend to hold conversations while in character. Jay and Silent Bob are both drug users and dealers --so optional fake doobies might add to the costume. Jay and Silent Bob are heavily invested in the world of comic books and superheroes, Silent Bob has experimented with mind control and telekinesis, they have had a relationship with an orangutan and have visited Hollywood, they have extremely limited information on the workings of the Internet, and on the very rare occasion that Silent Bob speaks, he drops philosophical knowledge and solves problems.